


counting stars

by TooNerdyToHandle



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Christmas, Crew as Family, Cute Kids, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 21:00:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13132107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooNerdyToHandle/pseuds/TooNerdyToHandle
Summary: Len is getting Joanna for Christmas for the first time since the divorce.Jim has an idea on how to make it the best Christmas ever, but he needs the crew's help.





	counting stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gracieminabox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracieminabox/gifts).



Jim bounces nervously on his toes watching out the window of the apartment. Bones and Jo would be coming any minute. He hadn’t seen Joanna face to face since before the five-year mission had resumed. They had exchanged comms, video if they could get a good enough link, but it wasn’t the same. And besides, this was the first Christmas Bones would have alone with Jo since before he and Jocelyn split. Jim had offered privacy, but Bones had more or less laughed in his face. They were a family, they’d celebrate together. That’s what Bones had said. Which had given Jim the idea he had presented to Bones, who had readily agreed, but whether or not Jo would like it was another matter entirely. To put it simply, Jim Kirk was extremely nervous. 

“Would you calm down? I can hear you stressing out over here,” Chris Pike says from the couch. Jim had asked him there for moral support, knowing how anxious he would get while waiting.

“I can’t. What if it’s completely different in person? What if she hates what we have planned?” Jim responds, ceasing to bounce and choosing to chew on his thumb nail instead. 

“This is McCoy’s daughter, son. That makes her yours, at least partially. It’ll be fine.” 

“But she’s not  _ mine mine _ . I mean, Bones is her dad, that’s kind of an automatic bond, but the two of us…” 

“Yeah, because it’s blood that matters,” Chris responds sarcastically. Jim can feel the pointed look that was shooting into his back. “You certainly gush about her like she’s blood. You talk about her the same way Len does.” 

“And I love her like she’s mine, I do, but that doesn’t mean she-” 

“Jim Kirk did you not, not even a year ago mind you, comm me  _ in tears  _ because Joanna McCoy said “I love you” at the end of one of your calls and you were so happy you had to tell someone?”  Jim sputters for a moment before letting out a sigh and turning to face Chris. As expected, he has a  _ you know I’m right _ look on his face.

“But that’s still not in person! Besides it still leaves the whole problem of if she’s even going to like our idea.” Chris lets out an exasperated sigh and leans forward to set his coffee cup on the coffee table. 

“Okay then, let’s sort this out. She obviously loves Len, that’s her father. She loves you, no matter how much you wanna worry about it or deny it. She adores every other person involved, she’s met most of them at least once. The exception being that engineering wunderkind you got off of Altamid. You and Len have both talked about how much she loves Christmas and how excited she is about coming here. What’s there to worry about?” Jim sputters again, opening his mouth to speak and just closing it several times. He’s considering his answer. Finally, he sighs, running his hand through his hair. 

“I dunno. I’m just worried something’s gonna go wrong.” 

“Obviously, that’s why this conversation started in the first-” a small knock and the door opening promptly ends the conversation. Jim barely has time to turn before a small body barrels into him. 

“Jim!” Joanna cries. Her arms wrap around his middle and her face squishes into his stomach. 

“Hey, Jojo!” Jim untangles her arms from around him and lifts her up into a hug that suits him a little better. “You’re nearly too big for a hug like this, you know that? I think you grew, like, six feet.” Joanna giggles into his shoulder. 

“I don’t think I grew  _ that  _ much.” 

“Better not have,” Bones grumbles, the door shutting behind him. He tosses a couple of bags into an armchair. “Hey, Chris.” 

Joanna, who had apparently failed to notice Pike any sooner, squirms wildly in the hug Jim is still holding her in. “Put me down, put me down, put me down,” she repeats it like a mantra until Jim laughs and complies. Joanna runs to the couch to greet the man that had become half a set of surrogate grandparents, and Jim greets his husband. 

Jim slides his arms around Len’s waist. “How was the shuttle ride?” he asks, possibly offering his usual shit-eating grin. 

Len gives a small but loving glare back. “Well, she certainly takes it better than her daddy does.” 

“You know, Bones, you would think after all this time in space  _ flying  _ you would do a little better with shuttles.” Len simply gives a small  _ hmph  _ before lowering his voice and asking Jim a question. Joanna is well enough distracted to not be paying attention. 

“Everythin’ ready to go?” 

“Mhm. Just waiting for Phil’s shift to end.” Len smiles and kisses his husband’s cheek. 

 

* * *

 

Joanna McCoy had never seen more than a dusting of snow in her short life. She had also failed to have a Christmas any bigger than the small remnants of her family in Georgia. Unknown to her, Jim had decided to kill two birds with one stone

As far as Joanna knew, they were going up into the mountains for Christmas to be able to have some snow. In her mind, Chris and Phil were tagging along because they couldn’t make it to Maine that year and Phil missed the snow. Which wasn’t a complete lie, Phil  _ did  _ miss the snow, but they had the means to get to Maine if they really wanted to. They had both deemed this worthy, though, and promised Phil’s family a few days in Maine afterward. To Joanna McCoy’s knowledge, it would be just the five of them (and Chris’s telescope she had insisted he bring along) for the next few days. 

She wasn’t even suspicious until they pulled up to the cabin and she saw the size of it. She eyed Phil suspiciously when he grinned at her in the rearview mirror (Phil had been deemed the only candidate for driving in the snow. Chris and Len had no experience, and Jim’s driving was all around horrendous), but she said nothing. They unpacked the car without incident. 

Until she saw Hikaru standing on the porch, anyway. He had managed to slip out while she was distracted. 

Joanna cried out to him and tried to run to him in the snow. However, she wasn’t used to the snow or the boots on her feet, and the combination of the two slowed her down considerably. Sulu laughed and met her halfway. He picked her up much the same way Jim had. “Merry Christmas, Jo,” he told her. She pulled back to grin at him. 

“Merry Christmas, Uncle Hikaru. What are you doing here? Are Uncle Ben and Demora here?”

“Yeah, they are. We’re spending Christmas with you, of course,” he plopped her back down in the snow. “Go grab your stuff and we’ll get to decorating the tree we have ready to go.” 

Joanna obeys eagerly.

 

* * *

 

 

 

The second the front door opens, the house erupts into chaos. Good chaos, but chaos. The room fills with greetings and Merry Christmas’s and Joanna in the middle of it all, grinning the biggest grin Jim has ever seen on her face, but one that is exactly like her father’s. Jim hangs back, just watching. Occasionally, someone will catch his eye and grin, or in Jaylah’s case, looking a little confused but happy anyway. Jim’s been planning this for weeks now, but seeing it pay off and work out is something completely different. A weight lifts off his shoulders. Yeah, this was the right decision.

Phil withdrawals from the pack that seems to have formed itself in the middle of the room and comes to stand next to Jim. “You did good, kid. Really good,” Phil says. He has a smile on his face. “Chris said you were worried this wasn’t going to work. But you pulled it off pretty damn well.” 

“Over half the people in this room don’t even celebrate Christmas. I think I was rightfully in my place to be a little worried,” Jim responds, a small attempt at defending himself. 

“Mhm, that’s what you were worried about,” Phil’s smile widens. “Look at her, Jim. You’re going to have a hard time ever topping this.” 

“I think I’m alright with that,” Jim says, not being able to help the smile crossing his face. “You’re getting a Christmas miracle of your own, Phil. Look, your boyfriend’s being social.” Phil laughs. 

“I  _ hardly  _ count carrying on a conversation with a seven-year-old being social. But he’s trying,” Phil says with a grin, watching Chris interact with Demora despite being surrounded by other adults. “Give him a couple hours, he’ll start warming up.”

“Still a Christmas miracle,” Jim insists. Phil rolls his eyes, still with a grin. 

 

* * *

 

The next couple of hours are filled with decorating. Joanna’s fairly sure she’s never seen so many in her life. Then again, everything about this Christmas seems to be a new experience. Christmas in Georgia had never been made this big of a deal before, at least not that she can remember. Christmas at home had meant throwing some lights on the house, setting up a tree, having some sort of small gathering with the five people that were left in Georgia of her immediate family. But this is a completely different experience entirely. For one thing, there’s more people, and none with the undertone of not really wanting to be there. Even Uncle Spock seems more relaxed than usual. Jaylah’s still a little confused, asking with great frequency what things are for, but she doesn’t give off the air of being uncomfortable about it.

Then there’s the fact that the house seems to have erupted with decorations. There seems to be something just about everywhere, to the point that Jim wraps Uncle Hikaru in tinsel (“Don’t look at me like that, Ben, we’re being festive.”) and Joanna and Demora do the same to Chris’s cane, much to Phil’s absolute enjoyment. Uncle Scotty puts her on his shoulders and allows her to put up both tinsel and lights on things not involving living people, mostly the doorways. Uncle Pavel puts Demora on his shoulders and proposes a race to get the rest of the decorations up, but such is quickly vetoed. Apparently, no one wants to visit a hospital. 

They make good time getting everything up anyway. When they’re done, they turn off all the lighting in the room but their own creations and admire their handiwork. Well, attempt to. The little bit of sunlight still shining through the windows kind of ruins it. Demora sighs heavily from Pavel’s shoulders. 

“It’s not dark enough,” she announces, sounding disappointed. 

“It’ll be plenty dark enough after dinner, we can try again then,” Ben assures her. She lets out another sigh anyway. 

“Vell,” Pavel begins, bringing Demora down from his shoulders. “Ve could always pass the time with a snowman.” 

Joanna and Demora would’ve both run out the back door without coats on if someone had let them. 

 

* * *

 

Spock is the hardest to coax outside. It’s easy enough to see why; having grown up on a desert planet hotter than most of Earth didn’t exactly present the opportunity for experiencing this kind of cold. Getting him outside took a number of clothing layers, the combined begging of two children, and Uhura promising that he could come in the second he got too cold. It was an all-around entertaining experience for anyone who wasn’t Spock. But judging by the scene out the kitchen window, he’s doing just fine. He’s joined in the endeavor of making a snowman, probably being prompted by the same two begging children. If the cold is bothering him he’s failing to let it be known.

Sulu comes to stand next to Jim, following his gaze out the window. “There’s going to be an entire army of those things before we leave,” Sulu says. “Demora wormed all the information she could about snowman making out of Pavel on the way here. I don’t think she’s going to settle for less than ten of them.” 

“She’s never seen snow before?” Phil asks from the stove. Sulu shakes his head. 

“No. She’s never really been anywhere but San Francisco and Yorktown. Not a whole lot of snow to see.” 

“She’s still doing better than Chris. He didn’t see snow until I took him home for Christmas while we were in the Academy.” 

“Not my fault I grew up in a desert, Philip,” Chris retorts from the breakfast bar because Phil won’t let him any nearer the stove. 

“I’m aware, Christopher. You were just  _ so cute  _ watching the snow for the first time,” Phil teases. Chris simply grunts in response. Sulu looks at Jim and grins before turning away and walking back to the stove where he’s meant to be helping Phil make dinner. 

“Jim, will you bring me the sugar container since Phil won’t let me within three feet of the stove?” Chris asks in a mockingly sweet tone. Jim laughs and nods, abandoning his post at the window. 

“The stove can smell you coming, Chrissy, and I’d rather not pay for burning down someone’s rental cabin,” Phil responds in much the same tone as Jim transports the sugar. 

“You’re  _ that bad  _ of a cook?” Sulu asks, looking over his shoulder to Chris. 

Chris responds with a  _ no  _ at the same time Phil responds with a  _ yes _ . Jim and Hikaru both laugh, Jim plopping himself down onto a stool next to Chris and setting the sugar next to Chris’s coffee cup. 

“He nearly burned down his dorm room at the Academy trying to cook, Hikaru. Don’t believe a word he says,” Jim clarifies. 

“.... You just had to tell him that, didn’t you, Phil?” 

“Yes, Chris, yes I did.” 

Chris lets out an exasperated sigh, opening the sugar. “I could cook well enough not to starve to death,” he says defensively. 

“Replicators don’t count, Admiral,” Sulu chimes in with a wide grin, turning his back to the stove. Phil throws his head back in a laugh, and holds his hand out for a high five.

Chris drops his spoon into the sugar in defeat. “You’re assholes, all three of you.” 

“We know, love. Go back to your coffee,” Phil says, still chuckling. Chris takes time to glare at all three of them before plucking his spoon from the sugar.

“Let’s see if today’s the day Christopher Pike brings back diabetes, shall we?” Jim says with false wonder, leaning into the counter to watch more closely. Chris shoots him a look out of the corner of his eye before dumping the first spoonful of sugar into his coffee. He drops a second and third in before Sulu makes a face. 

“That’s disgusting, it’s not even coffee anymore,” he says, looking between Chris and his coffee. 

Chris stares him dead in the eyes, straight-faced, and dumps in the fourth spoonful of sugar. 

 

* * *

 

Despite having a nice bit of time at the Academy now under her belt, there are still things about humans Jaylah fails to understand. The snow, for one thing. It was wet and cold, and sure it stuck together well, but why does that mean you have to  _ play in it _ ? And build little men out of it that look  _ nothing  _ like real men? They all seemed so excited about it. 

Then there was the display around her. Despite having basically the exact same food with the occasional variation based on dietary differences, they’re eating off one another’s plates. They’re eating off their own as well, but occasionally someone will lean over to another plate and pluck something small off of it. Jim. seems to be the worst offender, and leaves his only exception in Jaylah. Even Spock seems comfortable with something being snatched off his plate. Jim does get a variety of reactions, though. Demora and Joanna just laugh at him whenever he does it. Leonard and Chris swat at his hand but do nothing to really stop it.  Phil instantly steals something off of Jim’s plate in retaliation. Ben, Spock, Scotty, and Pavel seem to pay him little to mind, glancing only at his hand as it retreats but never vacating their current conversations to say anything. Hikaru just scratches his cheek with his middle finger, which for whatever reason makes Jim laugh and steal something else. Nyota says something in a language Jaylah doesn’t understand, making Jim laugh harder than he did at Hikaru. 

When Jaylah finally looks at him with a confused look, he grins, winks at her… and then promptly snatches something from her plate. She sits there in utter confusion for a moment before Phil catches her eye, nodding to Jim’s plate. She tilts her head in even deeper confusion, but Phil simply grins back, pointing to her fork and then to Jim’s plate. 

She waits until she knows Jim can see her, stabs something on the edge of his plate, and directs it to her mouth without hesitation. Phil laughs, and Jim just grins, looking proud for whatever reason. 

Jaylah just decides to settle on humans are strange. 

 

* * *

 

It’s getting late now. The majority of Chris’s evening after dinner had been spent with Demora, Joanna, and his telescope. They set it up at the big window of the room the girls would be sharing upstairs and don’t leave it for a couple of hours. They were lucky enough that the night sky was clear, leaving plenty of stars and constellations for Chris to point out. He recognizes the looks of wonder in the girls’ eyes well and silently calls it that they’re both going to end up in space, one way or another.

When the four-man team of Jim, Len, Hikaru, and Ben come in to insist on bedtime, Chris has to swear up and down they’ll look tomorrow night too. The girls are still disappointed, but it’s at least enough to get them to agree to get ready for bed. Chris receives his share of goodnight hugs and returns downstairs where Phil gives him this knowing, smug grin. When Chris questions it, Phil won’t give him an answer, instead leaning his head onto Chris’s shoulder and insisting it’s nothing. 

Alcohol appears shortly after the girls are put to bed. So, nearly everyone has been drinking for awhile. Even Chris is balancing dangerously on the edge of tipsy. Phil, Spock, and Jaylah are the only ones left sober. Phil is asleep next to Chris on the couch, cold feet tucked under Chris’s thigh and his arms crossed over his chest. Alcohol having little to no effect on Spock or Jaylah leaves giving either of them drinks a useless endeavor. 

Currently, they were playing poker, cramped around the coffee table in the living room. Phil had played a couple of rounds before returning to couch and flopping down next to Chris, promptly shoving his perpetually cold feet under what was Chris’s perfectly warm thigh. According to Phil, he was just “taking a break” but said “break” was growing rather extensive since he had fallen asleep within ten minutes. Not that such seemed to bother the remaining players. They kept right on going, Len thoroughly kicking everyone’s ass every time. Occasionally, someone would try to get Chris to come play (Jim even pulled out his puppy dog eyes at one point), but Chris would refuse. Chess he could do. Poker he could not. Besides, it wasn’t like anyone really stood a chance against Len, even if he was trying to help Spock and Jaylah. 

A door clicks open and then shut upstairs, just loud enough to hear. Chris isn’t all that surprised; the noise level had been steadily rising with the alcohol intake. 

“Uh-oh, we woke one,” Jim announces, leaning back and turning to look toward the stairs. 

“Ve veren’t  _ that  _ loud,” Chekov says, despite absolutely being the loudest. 

“Oh yes, we were,” Uhura assures him, grabbing a pretzel from the pile she’s meant to be gambling with and eating it. 

“Shouldn’t be Demora, I swear that kid could sleep through a hurricane,” Ben says, leaning forward slightly to follow Jim’s gaze to the staircase. 

“Must get that from you,” Hikaru teases, tossing a couple of pretzels into the pile at the center of the table. 

Spock’s head tilts slightly as he gazes at Hikaru. “Illogical, Mr. Sulu, as she is adopted. Therefore it cannot be genetic-” 

“He’s kidding, Spock,” Scotty laughs. 

Jim grins, eyes still on the stairs. “Hey, Jojo! Did we wake you up, kiddo?”

A soft  _ no  _ comes from the bottom of the staircase. Chris isn’t entirely convinced that’s true. 

“You can come sit with us until you wanna go back to bed, baby,” Len says, turning his head to look over his shoulder. 

Everyone returns to the game as Joanna enters, settling herself down between Nyota and Spock, the former wrapping an arm around her. Joanna leans into Nyota’s side and yawns. 

“You look a little tired there, sweet pea,” Hikaru says from across the table, looking at her over his cards. Joanna shakes her head vigorously. Glances and knowing smiles are exchanged across the table. 

“Want some pretzels?” Nyota asks, holding a couple out in front of Joanna. She receives another head shake in response.

Joanna watches the card game with little to no interest. She leans over at one point to watch Spock, who follows Nyota’s lead and extends an arm around her, allowing her to lean into him too. It surprises the hell out of Chris for a moment before he realizes that this is Len’s kid, so of course Spock’s great with her. This lasts a total of maybe ten minutes before Joanna slides out from under Spock’s arm and clamors on the couch, half on Chris’s lap and half on the few remaining inches of the couch. 

“Hey, you,” Chris says, moving his arms to allow her to get comfortable. 

“Hi,” Joanna mumbles, settling her head against his shoulder. 

“Sure you’re not tired?” 

“Positive.” 

“Okay. Just going to hang out here then?” 

Joanna nods. 

They sit in silence for a while, listening to the bantering in occasional half-hearted arguments from the poker game. Ben is swearing up and down that Len has to be counting cards, Len’s denying it saying he’s just good and lucky making Spock chime in that there’s no such thing as luck. Chris can't help but be entertained by it all. 

“Chris?” Joanna asks quietly. 

“Mhm?” 

“Can we go look out your telescope again?” 

“Not tonight, kid. It's late. We’ll look tomorrow night if it's clear again.” Joanna sighs but nods, and they resume their silence and listen to the others. Phil lets out a quiet snore. 

“How is he still asleep? It's loud in here,” Joanna inquires with a small smile. 

“Phil can be a pretty heavy sleeper, especially if he doesn't have to work.” 

“At least he doesn't snore loud.” 

Chris laughs. “Yeah, that’s true.” Joanna smiles and shifts further onto his lap. 

“Are you sure we can't go look out the telescope?” 

“I'm positive, Jojo.” 

“Please?” Joanna pleads, looking up to Chris with the best puppy dog eyes she can muster. It nearly works. Nearly. 

“Not tonight, Jo.” she gives a resigned sigh, leaning her head back into Chris’s shoulder. She’s quiet for a moment before speaking again. She doesn’t raise her head but remains simply watching the poker game. 

“I’m going to be a Captain like you and Jim. Then I can always look at the stars when I want to.” 

Everything in Chris’s mind comes screeching to a halt. The first thought to his mind is  _ Well that’s fucking dangerous  _ and then  _ Your father would probably have a stroke.  _ He’s about to suggest a different route to the stars, one that may not require probably knocking on death’s door at least once, but then Jim turns and beams at them. He’d heard clearly. He doesn’t say anything, just grins, and then turns back to the poker game. 

It occurs to Chris that he only has Jim because of being a captain. His course through Starfleet had led him to everyone in this room. The group that part of him still sees as that ship full of children, and that at some point his brain and heart both said  _ Yep, you’re mine now  _ much in the same way it had when Jim and Len first started appearing in his life when they started at the Academy. It had given him Phil, who he’s more or less forgotten how to live without because they’ve been inseparable for the last three decades. It had given him the best job he ever could have asked for, and apparently a family he’d never intended on finding. His brain supplies  _ You wouldn’t know what to do without them  _ and Chris can’t help but agree. Yes, captaincy may not be the safest thing in the world, but if that was the price for nearly everything Chris had, it was worth it. 

He smiles slowly, plants a small kiss on the top of Jo’s head and says; “Sounds good to me, kid.” 

 

* * *

 

The next morning is a lazy one. It’s Christmas Eve, but no one seems to be in a hurry to do anything. The kids are up first but only go to their parents’ respective bedrooms. Joanna squishes herself between Jim and her father, buries her face into Jim’s side, and falls back asleep. Demora sprawls herself across Hikaru’s back as a joke at first but ends up falling back asleep too.

Len is the first to truly get up. It’s a surprising thing; Len is nowhere close to a morning person unless he’s on call. But yes he walks downstairs into the kitchen to realize that, yes, he’s the only one that’s felt the need to get up. He simply shrugs to himself, starts a pot of coffee and gets the ingredients for the pancakes Joanna had requested before she went back to sleep. 

He gets maybe ten minutes to himself before someone walks into the kitchen. He glances over his shoulder and offers a small smile. 

“Mornin’, Spock.”

“Good morning, Leonard.” 

“Likin’ your first Christmas?”

“It would be logical not to make any assessments until we have truly celebrated the holiday.” Len rolls his eyes fondly. 

“I’ll ask again tomorrow then. You  _ seem  _ to be having a nice time.” 

“It has been a pleasant experience thus far, yes.” 

“Well, Jo’s pretty happy you came.” Len leaves out the  _ So am I _ . 

“I am…. Glad I came as well.” 

Len smiles and nods towards the pancake batter he has started. “Help me with these pancakes, would ya?” 

 

* * *

 

Not much happens until after lunch, which Phil is totally fine with. He wakes once as the sun is just starting to shine through the windows, but hears nothing going on past the bedroom door. He curls closer to Chris, wraps an arm around his middle, and goes back to sleep. The second time he’s awoken, the house smells like pancakes and there’s a small knock at the door before it opens. Joanna clamors up onto the end of the bed in the small space between he and Chris’s feet and informs them that breakfast is ready.

The time between breakfast and lunch involves little more than lounging about. Chris, Jim, and Spock take turns playing chess while teaching Joanna and Demora how to play. Phil, Len, and Ben discuss nearly anything that falls into the realm of medical knowledge. The remainder of the group begins another game of poker, which without Len, is actually well matched. They have a late lunch, a relatively small one compared to the dinner the night before. As soon as everyone finishes eating, Joanna decides they should all go outside.

Phil’s in the middle of making a snowman with Joanna and Demora when he suddenly grins. 

“What?” Joanna asks, looking at him curiously. 

“You’ve never had a snowball fight, have you?” The girls look at each other, grin, then look back to Phil, head shaking. 

Chris, as much as Phil loves him, presents himself as the  _ perfect  _ target. He has his back to them, engaged in some conversation with Jim. Completely unaware. Phil crouches down, gesturing for Joanna and Demora to follow his lead, and quietly instructs them on how to make a snowball.

Then he stands and launches it directly at Chris’s back. 

Chris jumps a little, obviously surprised by the sudden impact. Jim peers over his shoulder and starts to laugh. Chris turns, confused at first. The second his eyes land on Phil and Jo and Demora, Phil is thrown directly under the bus. 

“Phil did it!” Joanna and Demora exclaim in perfect unison. Phil sputters as Chris starts to smirk and crouch to the snow. 

“Oh come on, Chrissy, you know I would never do that. You know I love you, right?” 

Chris stands, snowball in one hand. “I’m very well aware. Love you too,” he smiles sweetly and exacts his revenge, firing the snowball directly at Phil’s chest. 

The situation dissolves from there. 

Jim, of course, has no reservations about jumping in on the action. He goes straight for Len, which is nothing close to a surprise. Len has to exact revenge. Joanna and Demora have a snowball for both of them and earn them back 

Chris exacts his revenge on Hikaru for the comments made the night before. Hikaru exacts his on Ben and Pavel for laughing. 

Scotty and Uhura both seem to jump in on the action just because they can, dragging Jaylah along with them. 

Spock tries to avoid the whole mess but is dragged in by the combined efforts of Jim and Len. 

There’s not really any sides or alliances, it’s simply every person for themselves. It seems to be more fun that way. By the time they finally end things, everyone is cold and shivering but happy anyway. Phil swears he sees the tiniest hint of a smile on Spock’s face. 

 

* * *

 

When they open presents the next morning, the winner by far is the telescope Chris gives to Joanna.

She insists on putting it together right away, despite the fact that it won’t be dark for hours. While she’s putting it together with the help of Demora and Scotty, Phil comes and stands next to Chris where he’s staked a spot in the doorway. He slides an arm around Chris’s waist and smiles. 

“Keeping up traditions, huh?” he asks. “Get your grandkid in love with space and give them a telescope. Seems like a pretty good tradition to me.” 

Chris simply smiles and shrugs.

 

* * *

 

When all is said and done and everyone says their goodbyes and goes their separate ways, Len quickly realizes this is the best Christmas he and Joanna both have ever had. He waits until Jim finishes loading Joanna’s sleeping form into the car to grab him and pull him into a long kiss.

“What was that for?” Jim asks when they finally pull apart. 

“For this,” Len says. “For all of this. Thank you, Jim.” 

Jim beams, his smile somehow even more capable of melting Len than usual. “Anytime, Bones,” he says. “Merry Christmas.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Ta-da! My first Christmas fic! I got this idea way back in October, and I couldn't not write it. It was never meant to be this long but stuff happens.  
> It's nowhere near perfect, but that's okay because I love it anyway.  
> For Gracie because she's a dear having a bad day <3  
> P.S. - If you want to understand the whole telescope thing, read Gracie's PikeEpic. It's amazing all around, and you'll understand why I talk so much about the telescope!


End file.
